Parbery re Trio Capital Limited [2010] NSWSC 775

Parbery re Trio Capital Limited [2010] NSWSC 775

Special circumstances, namely the confidentiality obligations attached to documents obtained by ASIC from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong under an inter-agency confidentiality regime, justify private examination for those parts of proceedings which may disclose such documents; no special circumstances exist to warrant entirely private examinations for either Mr Richard or Mr Liu.

Parties
Plaintiffs: Stephen James Parbery, Neil Singleton and Nicholas Martin in their capacity as liquidators of Trio Capital Limited, Astarra Fund Management Pty Limited, and ASI Administration Pty Limited; Examinee: Mr Richard; Examinee: Mr Liu; Intervener (leave to Be Heard): John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
12 July 2010
Procedural Posture
Corporations Examinations by Liquidators Procedural Application / Interlocutory; Orders on Procedural Applications for Private Examination
Outcome
Partially allowed and partially refused. Orders for partial private examination granted; applications for wholly private examinations dismissed.
Legal Topics
Liquidators' Examinations, Private and Public Hearings, Confidentiality of Documents, Mutual Legal Assistance
Corporations Law Equity Civil Procedure Liquidators' Examinations Private and Public Hearings Confidentiality of Documents Mutual Legal Assistance

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Parties

Stephen James Parbery, Neil Singleton and Nicholas Martin in their capacity as liquidators of Trio Capital Limited, Astarra Fund Management Pty Limited, and ASI Administration Pty Limited

Plaintiffs

Mr Richard

Examinee

Mr Liu

Examinee

John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd

Intervener (leave to Be Heard)

Procedural Posture

Corporations Examinations by Liquidators Procedural Application / Interlocutory; Orders on Procedural Applications for Private Examination

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether special circumstances exist justifying private (non-public) liquidator's examinations under s 597(4) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
  2. 2 Whether the whole or part of the examinations of Mr Richard and Mr Liu should be held in private
  3. 3 The scope and public interest implications of maintaining confidentiality in documents obtained via international inter-agency cooperation

Ratio Decidendi

Special circumstances, namely the confidentiality obligations attached to documents obtained by ASIC from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong under an inter-agency confidentiality regime, justify private examination for those parts of proceedings which may disclose such documents; no special circumstances exist to warrant entirely private examinations for either Mr Richard or Mr Liu.

Court Disposition

Partially allowed and partially refused. Orders for partial private examination granted; applications for wholly private examinations dismissed.

Orders

  • Order pursuant to s 597(4) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), any portion of the public examinations of Mr Richard and Mr Liu that in senior counsel for the liquidators' opinion will or may involve the disclosure of the documents, or involves the witness being asked questions by direct reference to such document, be held...
  • Direct those parts of the transcript recording those portions of the examination held in private to be kept confidential to those persons and not published.